What are the core values of SGI?
The opening words of the SGI charter express the commitment of the organisation to ‘contribute to peace, culture and education based on the philosophy and ideals of the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin’.1
Most people are trying to find ways to make a positive contribution to humanity. By being engaged in activities for peace, culture and education, SGI is able bring its life-affirming philosophy into secular society in a value creating, non-religious way.
As the movement has grown, SGI’s commitment to make a positive contribution to society has opened a way and we have formed connections with many like-minded people and groups from different faith backgrounds.
Peace
SGI members are free to make their own choices about which organisations they feel they can make a positive contribution to.
However, there are some organisations where there is a very natural synergy for creating a partnership with SGI. One example of this is the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). ICAN is a non-political, umbrella organisation uniting various organisations who are working to prevent the disastrous consequences which would result from any nuclear weapon being used.
Every year since 1983, Daisaku Ikeda has submitted a peace proposal to the United Nations and other world leaders and decision takers. Each proposal sets out a variety actions which could improve the world around us. Many of the themes he continues to raise are reflected in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals.2
They also include actions that individuals and civil society organisations can take to make a difference on a local level, which will have an impact on the wider world.
Culture
All forms of creative expression have the potential to transcend boundaries of difference, such as language and ethnicity. Music in particular is treasured for its ability to reach the heart of a person.
SGI believes that cultural activities and exchanges are an ideal way to develop ties of friendship between people of different cultures and nationalities. Artistic and musical events build mutual appreciation of diverse heritages and strengthen links between people in order to lay a solid foundation for a peaceful world.
Culture is about exploration, exchange and development, and learning from others and transcending differences. Ultimately though, we are expressing our cultured side when we rise above the immediate and determine to create a better world for ourselves and others.
Education
SGI-UK co-hosts a range of exhibitions which examine the key issues affecting individuals today. They seek to explore how, as individuals, each of us can actively work to create peace.
We also regularly welcome school groups to the SGI-UK national centre, Taplow Court, to find out about Buddhism as part of the Schools National Curriculum.
The founder of the Soka Gakkai, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, who was originally a teacher and educator, wrote: ‘The aim of education is not to transfer knowledge; it is to guide the learning process, to equip the learner with the methods of research.’3
Makiguchi was focused on the happiness of the children and education was a means by which they could develop their minds and interact creatively with their environment, rather than only learning facts and figures.
From a broader point of view, for SGI members, education is about fostering the inherent potential in each individual. It is also learning what it means to be a ‘world citizen’ and to play a part in seeing what we can do to eradicate misery in the world and see harmony between human beings and the environment.
The SGI’s activities for peace, culture and education create ways to celebrate and uphold the inherent potential of all life. Our hope is they can activate the power that exists in all people to overcome adversity.